精灵们
高高的山峦之巅，
湍急的溪谷之间，
只怕冒犯了精灵
无人胆敢去探险。
小人，好人，
结队而行；
绿衣，红帽，
一羽白色鸮之翎！
(or:
小人，好人，
结队浩浩；
绿衣，红帽，
一翎白色的猫头鹰羽毛！)
有些在砾石遍布的岸边
建起自己的住房——
由黄色的浪花泡
做成的松脆甜馅饼上；
有些住在黑色山湖的
芦苇丛里，
青蛙是他们的看门狗，
整夜不能把眼闭。
山顶最高处，
坐着老国王；
又老又阴沉，
才智渐消亡。
通过白色迷雾之桥
跨越圣哥伦比亚之莽，
他庄严的旅程
曾遍布斯维利哥到罗斯的四方；
寒冷的星夜下
音乐在回荡，
与欢乐的北光女王，
曾一起共进宴飨。
他们偷走小布瑞歌特
长达七年之久；
当她再回到家乡
朋友都已无留。
夜昼相交之时，
他们轻轻将她带回；
不知她已悲伤而逝，
以为她还在深深沉睡。
他们将她放在
湖泊的深处，
菖蒲叶做成的床边，
等待她的复苏。
山崖峭壁旁，
苔藓遍布的空旷处，
他们在这里或那里，
随意种满了荆棘树。
如果有人胆敢作对
恶意找寻他们的秘密，
他将会在夜晚发现
床上布满最尖锐的荆棘。
高高的山峦之巅，
湍急的溪谷之间，
只怕冒犯了精灵
无人胆敢去探险。
小人，好人，
结队而行；
绿衣，红帽，
一羽白色鸮之翎！
作者：威廉·阿林汉姆
THE FAIRIES1
Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We dare 't go a-hunting
For fear of little men.
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl's feather!
Down along the rocky shore
Some
make their home --
They live on crispy pancakes
Of yellow tide-foam;
Some in the reeds
Of the black mountain-lake,
With frogs for their
watch-dogs,
All night awake.
High on the hilltop
The old
King sits;
He is now so old and gray,
He's nigh lost his wits.
With
a bridge of white mist
Columbkill he crosses,
On his stately journeys
From Slieveleague to Rosses;
Or going up with music
On cold starry
nights,
To sup with the Queen
Of the gay Northern Lights.
They stole little Bridget
For seven years long;
When she
came down again
Her friends were all gone.
They took her lightly back,
Between the night and morrow;
They thought that she was fast asleep,
But she was dead with sorrow.
They have kept her ever since
Deep
within the lake,
On a bed of flag-leaves,
Watching till she wake.
By the craggy hillside,
Through the mosses bare,
They have
planted thorn-trees,
For pleasure here and there.
Is any man so daring
As dig them up in spite,
He shall find their sharpest thorns
In his
bed at night.
Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We
dare 't go a-hunting
For fear of little men.
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl's
feather!
[1] By William Allingham.